no title

Short takes

Compassion for families in need

About our Editorials

Dispatch editorials express the view of the
Dispatch editorial board, which is made up of the publisher, the president of
The Dispatch, the editor and the editorial-writing staff. As is the traditional newspaper
practice, the editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the newspaper.
Comments and questions should be directed to the
editorial page editor.

Until there are cures for cancer and other terrifying diseases, the best families fighting those
battles can hope for is comfort and support during the ordeal.

Families coming to central Ohio for treatment just got a bit more of both, with the startup of a
program by the American Cancer Society to provide free or deeply discounted hotel rooms for those
who would struggle to afford a place to stay.

Through a partnership with Extended Stay America hotels, the society will provide 10,000 free
and 10,000 discounted night stays nationwide. In Columbus, the discounted rate will be $12 per
night.

The need for such help is great; thanks in part to the prominence of Nationwide Children’s
Hospital and the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Arthur G. James Cancer
Hospital, Columbus ranks 12th nationally in the number of patients who travel more than 40 miles
for outpatient cancer treatment.

There’s similar good news for families of ill children: The Ronald McDonald House near
Nationwide Children’s is expanding from 80 rooms to 122, which will make it the largest such
facility in the world.

Senior brings years of experience to young lives

As a tutor, Bernard Frank is technically teaching Bexley kids how to make sense of math. But
when the tutor brings 89 years of life experience and a good heart that understands the value of
helping others, the calculation changes.

When Frank retired in 2000 as owner of Lynn’s Jewelers, a Downtown fixture for decades, he
decided he still had something to give. So, at age 76, he brushed up on his math skills at Columbus
State Community College, got a teaching certificate and became a substitute teacher in Bexley City
Schools.

These days, he tutors children in math. Sometimes he gets paid in cash; other times, depending
on a student’s circumstances, “I get paid in the heart,” he told
The Dispatch. “When you’re paid in the heart, you don’t spend the heart. When you get paid
money, you spend it.”

If his students remember just one lesson from him, let it be that.

Carbon-monoxide detectors are easy-to-use lifesavers

The tragic death of a Bexley grandmother should serve as a warning to others to install and test
carbon-monoxide detectors in their homes.

The devices don’t have to be attached to a ceiling; some models plug into the wall, making them
convenient for people who aren’t power-tool inclined or who move often.

Patricia “Soapie” A. Hayes, 73, died on Dec. 20 from the poisonous gas.

Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, and is produced by many household items, including
gas- and oil-burning furnaces. Poisoning symptoms include dizziness, headache, weakness, nausea,
vomiting, chest pain and confusion.

The gas can kill quickly. Columbia Gas of Ohio instructs anyone who suspects they have
carbon-monoxide problem in their home, or whose detector sounds an alarm, to get outside into fresh
air immediately and then call 911. And don’t forget to take the pets.